The eight police officers convicted of the murder of taxi driver Mido Macia were each sentenced to 15 years in prison by the High Court in Pretoria on Wednesday.
“Taking into consideration the evidence before court and mitigation of sentence, the court sentences all eight accused to 15 years each in prison,” said Judge Bert Bam.
He said although there were strong arguments during mitigation of sentence for life sentences in accordance with the crime, he found there were compelling circumstances to not impose such.
The accused did not have previous convictions, and were bread winners who families depended on.
“I arrived at a conclusion that life in prison will not be feasible. There are satisfying circumstances that allows deviation from the life sentence.”
In August Bam convicted the eight former police officers of murdering Macia in 2013.
Macia was dragged behind a police van in February 2013. He was later found dead in the Daveyton police station’s holding cells.
Bongamusa Mdluli, Meshack Malele, Thamsanqa Ngema, Percy Mnisi, Sipho Ngobeni, Lungisa Gwababa, Bongani Kolisi and Linda Sololo were all dismissed from the South African Police Service following a disciplinary hearing.
A ninth former police officer, initially charged with the group, was acquitted by the court. Matome Ramatlou walked out of the court a free man after Bam told him that there was no evidence linking him to the murder.
Macia was approached by members of the police on the afternoon of the incident in February 2013, after he had illegally parked his taxi and caused a traffic jam.
An altercation between him and the police ensued and they tried to place him in the back of a police van.
According to the former police officers, one of Macia’s handcuffs became entangled in the leg of a bench in the back of the van when he fell out of the van.
They had claimed that he was dragged along the streets of Daveyton to the local police station by mistake. – African News Agency (ANA)
